Man City beats Real to top AP Global Football 10

The Associated Press

FILE -In this Sept. 23, 2014 file photo Real's Cristiano Ronaldo holds the ball as he celebrates his four goals during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Elche at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain. Forwards Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Lionel Messi of Argentina are finalists for the men's honor along with German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, FIFA said Monday, Dec. 1, 2014. Ronaldo won in 2008 and 2013, while Messi won four in a row from 2009-12 (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, file)

FILE -In this Sept. 23, 2014 file photo Real's Cristiano Ronaldo holds the ball as he celebrates his four goals during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Elche at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain. Forwards Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Lionel Messi of Argentina are finalists for the men's honor along with German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, FIFA said Monday, Dec. 1, 2014. Ronaldo won in 2008 and 2013, while Messi won four in a row from 2009-12 (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, file) (The Associated Press)

JACK BEZANTS Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Victories over Bayern Munich and Southampton were enough for Manchester City to edge Real Madrid by two votes for team of the week honors in the Associated Press Global Football 10 on Tuesday.

A dramatic 3-2 win over Bayern in the Champions League was inspired by a Sergio Aguero hat trick. The Argentina striker turned creator in the game at Southampton on Sunday, providing two assists in City's 3-0 win.

His exploits earn him player of the week.

"Sergio Aguero may have drawn a blank against Southampton, but his performance was still superb," Mike McGrath of The Sun in England said. "So too was his hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek. Even if they are accused of being a one-man team, Manchester City were the top performers."

Fellow voter Marco Monteverde, of News Corp. Australia, was in agreement and believes that despite a slow start to the season, Aguero can spearhead a City charge on the Premier League title.

"Manchester City finally found form in the Champions League against none other than the great Bayern Munich, before easily beating Southampton to remind Chelsea that the race for the Premier League title is well and truly alive," Monteverde said.

Aguero's Argentina counterpart, Lionel Messi, is second after becoming the leading scorer in Champions League history with a hat trick against APOEL a week ago, taking his tally to 74 goals in the competition.

"Is there a player with better timing than Messi? A hat trick to break the Champions League scoring record? Seems perfectly natural for him," Tom Timmermann, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said.

Real is second to City despite setting a club record of 16 straight victories with wins over Basel and Malaga.

"Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti leads Real Madrid from success to success," Manos Staramopoulos of Dimocratia in Greece said. "He has achieved a new record high: 16 consecutive wins. 10 in the league, five in the Champions League and one in the cup."

Cristiano Ronaldo polls fourth in the player rankings as he, like Aguero, provided two assists in the 2-1 win over Malaga. Gareth Bale found the net for Real's winner with a composed right footed striker late on in that match and is eighth.

Juventus is behind Real in third after a 2-1 win against Torino. Andrea Pirlo scored the winner in stoppage time and was also third in the player rankings and Barcelona is fourth after following its 4-0 Champions League win at APOEL with a 1-0 win in Valencia.

Despite being held 0-0 at Sunderland on Saturday, Chelsea is fifth after it thrashed Schalke 5-0 away in the Champions League to win Group G and secure its position in the last 16 of the competition.

But Schalke hit back in the Bundesliga with a 4-1 win over Mainz on Saturday, mainly thanks to its striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scoring a hat trick.

Huntelaar is fifth in the player vote, a position higher than Miralem Pjanic of Roma who propelled his side to a 4-2 victory against Inter Milan with two goals.

Roma takes eighth in the team vote, above Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.

Arsenal sealed qualification for the Champions League knockout stages for the 15th successive season by beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0, while PSG had a 1-0 win against Nice with a penalty from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is ninth in the player poll.